Forbidden Fruit
by sarramaks
Summary: Written for the Pick Your Own Pairing Challenge on the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Forum.  Challenge: Character A volunteers for a dangerous assignment and B tries to talk him/her out of it.  Enjoy - bit of fun!


**A/N: I don't own Criminal Minds. Hope you enjoy – please review!**

_Written for the Chit Chat on Author's forum challenge! Not sure if I quite fulfilled the criteria!_

PYOP Challenge: Rossi/Strauss

Character A volunteers for a dangerous assignment and B tries to talk him/her out of it.

**Forbidden Fruit**

** 'Forbidden fruit causes many jams'**

**Author Unknown**

A door slammed shut, reverberating around the whole building, or so it felt. David Rossi looked up from the proofs he was reading and focused on the footfalls that were protesting towards his office. He put his pen down and braced himself, having a very good idea of the fallout that was about to occur from the atomic bomb he had detonated earlier.

Several hours earlier. This meant she'd already had too much time to think about it, so this could be worse than what he was anticipating.

"I forbid it," she said, walking into his office, pushing the door closed. "It's suicidal."

"I think that's a little extreme, Erin," Rossi said. "I am unlikely to die."

"Unlikely means that there is a possibility."

"I never knew you cared," he said, his eyes creeping back to the proofs. He could hear voices outside, the rest of the team back from lunch. They would wonder what Strauss was doing in his office, looking so intense, and almost upset.

He glanced up at her and saw her lips tighten, her face giving away exactly what she was thinking. A warm feeling crept through him; it had been a long time since a woman had been this concerned about him taking on something that could be dangerous on one level or another.

"It's not right," she said. "It should be Agent Reid who does this, or even Lynch. I'd say Derek Morgan, but that could end in complete carnage. Not you, not at your..." she paused, and Rossi knew she was thinking of the slight age gap between them, the gap that worried her.

He shook his head. "Erin, I've known Hotch the longest – it should be me. Reid wouldn't have a clue, Prentiss and JJ are out of the equation for obvious reasons, and I'm already considering banning Morgan completely. You have nothing to worry about."

Her eyes were a steely river of disbelief, and Rossi smothered a smile.

"I've completed more dangerous tasks than this. You remember the time I went into that UnSub's house – the one who had murdered and mutilated those five men..."

"I am acutely aware of your foolhardiness," Strauss said. "But I would have thought by now you might have developed a modicum of sense and some consideration for the feelings of others. I do worry about my teams. I am not the cold hearted bitch you like to make me out to be."

He could have sworn she sounded almost hurt. An itching of guilt flitted around his stomach. "You know I don't think you're a 'cold-hearted bitch'. Most of the time I find you almost warm, and you appear less reptilian with each day I know you." There was no reason he couldn't have fun at her expense though.

Her lips pursed a little tighter and he bit his own together to stop the smile from erupting. He loved this part of his job. Politics were fun as long as you knew how to handle the politicians, and over the past few decades he'd had plenty of experience handling this particular politician.

She turned around on one spindly heel, heading towards the door. If she exited now, she would cause a bigger scene, given that Morgan, Reid and Garcia were all outside gossiping. Rossi knew they would never in a million years figure out the entire reason why Strauss was in his office, looking as if she would become their next UnSub, but they'd have a good time guessing.

"I suggest you hang on a moment and calm down," he said. "Have a piece of fruit. They were delivered just before you barged in." He gestured to the fruit bowl; an antique silver thing given to him by someone he had helped many years ago, back when both he and Strauss had been newbies at the FBI. After he'd left, the bowl had been stored away in a cupboard; he'd found it six days after his second first day back.

The bowl was now full of apples, cherries, plums and beautifully ripe peaches. She loved fruit; he'd always remembered that. The sweetness of it could even affect her sour mouth.

Strauss' eyes hovered over the bowl, and he saw her features soften slightly. "I've missed lunch," she said. "I didn't feel like eating." The glare returned to him as she picked up a plum, its purple skin glinting in the light.

Shrugging his shoulders he gazed back nonchalantly. "You have nothing to be concerned about, Erin," he said. "As per usual, you are creating a drama out of nothing."

"As per usual!" The redness in her eyes jumped to level two on the anger scale.

He nodded, unafraid. They'd been here before. Before she was married; during her marriage; after she was married... in between his marriages. She was a constant, but could never be the only constant, so they had dipped into each other's lives and toasted their toes by each other's fires until it became too hot. "Erin – what can possibly go wrong? It's not that dangerous an assignment..."

"I'll have to speak to Agent Hotchner about this. And Agent Prentiss. I doubt she's in agreement. Maybe then the pair of you will see sense." She bit into the fruit, her teeth piercing the flesh and causing the plum's sweet juice to drip down her fingers, just like the first time he'd seen her; both new recruits; both fierce, unafraid. Stubborn. Little had changed, even with the years. They were just like the coastline, wearing away gradually, the remains of youth more interesting with each passing year.

Rossi didn't pass her a handkerchief to wipe away the juice. In a moment she would lick it away, savouring the taste. A brief sweet moment. "Erin, how have I lost your faith in me?"

She was quiet, his tone silencing her.

"You're not as young as you used to be..."

"A two day old baby isn't as young as it used to be. That's a moot point."

"Are you fit enough for this?"

She sounded genuinely concerned now, instead of controlling. "I'm not as fit as I used to be. But experience counts for a lot, and I know my own limits better. I certainly won't be attempting to keep up with Morgan, although I think it's Reid you should be most concerned about."

She threw the stone from the plum in the waste basket with remarkable accuracy and he remembered where he had been the first time he had seen her. The firing range. A tepid September afternoon when the leaves were falling crisp and yellow. She'd eaten a plum, licked her fingers and then fired three successive deadly accurate shots at the target.

He'd not attempted t o recreate her success, knowing he couldn't, and she was too much of a feminist to bother competing with. Instead he'd nodded, congratulated her, and breezed off to the showers, making his presence known, making her aware of him.

It was later that night, in one of the dorm's common rooms when he saw her again, and three nights later when he'd shared her bed for the first time. He'd tasted plums on her lips, and ever since then the taste had reminded him of her. Sweetness with an acidic bite.

"I know you, David Rossi," she said. "And you'll somehow manage to be the centre of everything."

"You needn't worry," he said. "I'm past flirting with fillies. I prefer the old mares instead."

An apple hit the side of his head. Her shot was still good.

"I still think I'll be making a trip to the emergency room at some point that night," she said, her posture relaxing. He sensed victory.

"Night?" Rossi said. "It's not a night – it's a whole weekend. We can't let Hotch go quietly. This bachelor party is planned for the whole weekend." He prepared to duck.

Her eyebrows flew up into her hair. "Then I forbid it."

He didn't bother to hide his laughter this time. Leaving his desk, he walked towards her, his hands in his pockets. "Erin," he said. "Since when I have I resisted anything forbidden?" He picked a plum from the fruit bowl and handed it to her, his eyes dancing, and seeing a sweet light flickering in hers.


End file.
